Major Move Is Coming For Rockwell Automation After Bullish Options Activity

October 5, 2016October 5, 2016Clifton Ray

In today’s session Rockwell Automation (ROK) registered an unusually high (343) contracts volume of call trades. Someone, most probably a professional was a very active buyer of the October, 2016 call, expecting serious ROK increase. With 343 contracts traded and 12364 open interest for the Oct, 16 contract, it seems this is a quite bullish bet. The option with symbol: ROK161021C00120000 closed last at: $3.9 or 225% up. The stock decreased 1.14% or $1.38 during the last trading session, hitting $119.19. About 958,103 shares traded hands or 34.40% up from the average. Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) has risen 11.04% since March 2, 2016 and is uptrending. It has outperformed by 1.80% the S&P500.

Analysts await Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) to report earnings on November, 8. They expect $1.49 earnings per share, down 5.10% or $0.08 from last year’s $1.57 per share. ROK’s profit will be $190.02M for 20.00 P/E if the $1.49 EPS becomes a reality. After $1.55 actual earnings per share reported by Rockwell Automation for the previous quarter, Wall Street now forecasts -3.87% negative EPS growth.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) Ratings Coverage

Out of 13 analysts covering Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK), 2 rate it a “Buy”, 4 “Sell”, while 7 “Hold”. This means 15% are positive. Rockwell Automation has been the topic of 28 analyst reports since September 9, 2015 according to StockzIntelligence Inc. On Friday, September 18 the stock rating was initiated by Nomura with “Neutral”. On Tuesday, April 19 the stock rating was maintained by Citigroup with “Neutral”. The rating was downgraded by CLSA on Wednesday, November 11 to “Underperform”. The firm has “Hold” rating by Langenberg given on Thursday, April 28. On Friday, September 30 the stock rating was upgraded by Bernstein to “Mkt Perform”. The firm earned “Equal-Weight” rating on Monday, October 5 by Barclays Capital. Bank of America downgraded the shares of ROK in a report on Thursday, October 29 to “Underperform” rating. The rating was downgraded by Robert W. Baird to “Neutral” on Monday, October 5. The firm has “Buy” rating given on Wednesday, November 11 by Deutsche Bank. The company was initiated on Thursday, January 21 by Citigroup.

Insitutional Activity: The institutional sentiment increased to 1 in 2016 Q2. Its up 0.03, from 0.97 in 2016Q1. The ratio improved, as 36 funds sold all Rockwell Automation shares owned while 186 reduced positions. 41 funds bought stakes while 180 increased positions. They now own 89.69 million shares or 11.28% less from 101.09 million shares in 2016Q1.
Credit Suisse Ag holds 0.08% or 622,141 shares in its portfolio. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Limited Liability Corp, a Massachusetts-based fund reported 567,623 shares. Hudock Cap Ltd Liability holds 600 shares or 0.04% of its portfolio. Cibc Asset Mngmt holds 0.02% or 18,063 shares in its portfolio. Vident Inv Advisory Lc has 0.23% invested in the company for 14,415 shares. Commonwealth Equity Services holds 0.02% or 18,577 shares in its portfolio. Legal & General Grp Inc Public Limited Company holds 0.07% or 601,562 shares in its portfolio. Peak6 Investments Limited Partnership holds 0.01% or 10,902 shares in its portfolio. Axiom Ltd Liability De has 262,040 shares for 0.87% of their US portfolio. The United Kingdom-based Hsbc Hldgs Public Ltd Company has invested 0.07% in Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK). Fiera holds 0.01% of its portfolio in Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) for 16,678 shares. Sii Wi owns 8,577 shares or 0.08% of their US portfolio. Pension Ser holds 0.09% of its portfolio in Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) for 91,491 shares. America First Advsr Ltd Com reported 1,656 shares or 0.08% of all its holdings. Moreover, Bnp Paribas Arbitrage Sa has 0.01% invested in Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) for 10,460 shares.

Insider Transactions: Since April 13, 2016, the stock had 0 buys, and 13 sales for $6.20 million net activity. Shares for $207,205 were sold by HAGERMAN DOUGLAS M. Another trade for 686 shares valued at $80,279 was made by MCCORMICK WILLIAM T JR/WI on Friday, August 5. $519,188 worth of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was sold by Parfet Donald R on Thursday, May 19. CRANDALL THEODORE D sold 5,404 shares worth $640,322. $261,926 worth of Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) was sold by DORGAN DAVID M. 1,881 shares were sold by MILLER JOHN M, worth $210,136 on Thursday, May 5. Shares for $1.09 million were sold by Kulaszewicz Frank C.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. is a well-known provider of industrial automation power, control and information solutions for manufacturers. The company has a market cap of $15.20 billion. The Firm operates through two divisions: Architecture & Software and Control Products & Solutions. It has a 21.15 P/E ratio. The Architecture & Software segment contains various hardware, software and communication components of the Company’s integrated control and information architecture capable of controlling the customer’s industrial processes and connecting with their manufacturing enterprise.